From Shtetl to Ghetto: Jewish Women on the Lower East Side

May 16, 2019 at 7:00 PM | Old Bridge, NJ | Old Bridge Public Library

How did life in the shtetls of Eastern Europe prepare Jewish women for life in the New World? Even though they were two very different worlds, there were some significant similarities. In the shtetls Jewish women worked to support their families, spoke the native language as well as Yiddish, were familiar with the marketplace and interacted with gentiles. This discussion explores how, in America, these women profited from more opportunities but suffered in their personal lives.

Leslie Fishbein, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of American Studies at Rutgers University